The Garden Magazine 



Vol. VI — No. 5 



Published Monthly 



DECEMBER, 1907 



One Dollar a Year 

 Fifteen Cents a Copy 



[For the purpose of reckoning dates, New York is 

 generally taken as a standard. Allow six days' difference 

 for every hundred miles of latitude.] 



How to Simplify Christmas 



ONLY two methods have been proposed 

 for avoiding the Christmas rush and 

 preventing gift-making from becoming a 

 burden. One is to spread the work over the 

 whole year, but this kills spontaneity. It 

 does not solve, it merely evades, the problem. 



The other is to cut down the list to the 

 family and intimates; to give nothing from 

 a sense of duty that is not accompanied with 

 pleasure, to give nothing that costs more 

 than one can afford; to give nothing that is 

 tainted with any suggestion of value received 

 or favors desired; to root out every trace of 

 sham and get down to the bed rock of real 

 affection and honest finances. 



Of course, this is the hardest way and it 

 may lead to some unpleasant self-revelations. 

 But they are very good for character building ! 

 Let us give this plan a fair trial this year. 

 Heaven knows all other schemes have failed. 



HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS BETTER 



If we have the courage to simplify the 

 material side of gift-making we shall have 

 time to restore to Christmas its old-time dig- 

 nity and charm. The way to do it has never 

 been better told than in these sentences 

 of Walter H. Page in "The Intimate Art 

 of Christmas Giving": 



"If you really know your child and its 

 inner life, you will have a happy thought that 

 you can express by a present — a token of 

 individual affection, a thing that does not 

 hint of the bargain-counter; a stimulating 

 suggestion — something individual, a thing 

 that would fit that particular child best of 

 all children in the world, and that could only 

 come from you, something that is the natural 

 expression of your relation to it and that 

 expresses this intimacy as nothing else. 



"Nor does such a present take the savings 

 of your year. It is not likely to cost much, 



but whether it costs much or little, it carries 

 no suggestion of the cost. More than likely 

 it will be a present that will give joy, perhaps 

 the joy of occupation for a long time. It will 

 not be a flimsy toy or ornament that will soon 

 find its way to the ash-barrel. 



"There is a fine art in expressing oneself in 

 presents, especially to children, for which 

 no ready-made method is a substitute. When 

 we learn this art well, and practise it with 

 grace, Christmas will cease to be a burden. 

 We shall teach our children to make the 

 things they give. Thus we may fill our 

 homes and lives with things and thoughts 

 of beauty and of use and of individual 

 intimate value. The gaudy shop-windows 

 before Christmas will seem what they are, 

 merely the first act in a dreary tragedy, the 

 second act of which is a perfunctory exchange 

 of gifts that do not gladden, while the last 

 act is the filling of the garret or ash-barrel 

 with discarded things which have lost their 

 momentary significance and are of no use. 

 Recall your Christmas presents of last year 

 and see how many of them give you pleasure 

 now — either those that you received or 

 those that you gave. This is the first lesson 

 in the cultivation of a beautiful and delicate 

 and joy-giving art." 



APPROPRIATE GIFTS FOR LOVERS OF 

 GARDENING 



The way for lovers of gardening to apply 

 this spirit is to consider which members of 

 your family and which intimate friends are 

 interested in gardening and then ask yourself 

 which of the ten following gifts is most appro- 

 priate for this particular person. 



If it is a child, would a set of tools, includ- 

 ing some' garden implements be most appro- 

 priate? Tools are interesting, constructive 

 and educational. Does some older member 

 of your family ardently desire a wheel-hoe 

 or pair of pruning shears? (Send for an 

 implement catalogue for suggestions.) 



What is the most inspiring and useful 

 gardening book you could give your friend? 

 (Send for several catalogues so that you can 

 judge intelligently). 



Is your garden famous for a specialty? 

 If so, have you any home-saved seeds of that 

 specialty which you could send to someone 

 who has expressed a particular desire for 

 them? 



Have you any home-grown plants or 

 flowers that you have cultivated for the 

 express purpose of giving to some particular 

 friend at Christmas? 



What plant in the florist's window would 

 give the most pleasure to your family or 

 friends? What can you do to it to hide the 

 pot and put your personality into the gift ? 



What decorative material for Christmas 



mentioned in this magazine is new to your 

 friend and would be an appropriate gift 

 from you? A box of Southern evergreens 

 and berries? Southern smilax ? Leucothoe? 

 Galax? Extra well berried holly packed in 

 cardboard boxes? Something from your 

 own grounds or neighborhood? 



Would a year's subscription to a garden 

 magazine be most appropriate ? Or a com- 

 plete set of bound volumes, all indexed and 

 forming a practical working library for your 

 family ? 



Would you like to send your favorite 

 charitable institution an order for some 

 particular plants or bulbs that would make 

 the place look better? 



Don't forget the birds! Hang a piece of 

 suet on a tree near a window where you can 

 all see the birds come to eat. 



Finally, make a resolution for next year's 

 Christmas that some one of your gifts shall 

 show unusual forethought. For example, 

 why not preserve a lot of autumn leaves for 

 Christmas decoration by the extraordinarily 

 simple method used by Mr. Dugmore and 

 fully described in Country Lije in America 

 last Christmas? There is no waxing or 

 ironing; no destroying the beautiful texture 

 and venation; and you can preserve whole 

 branches in an ordinary cellar after baking 

 them in a box of sand. 



A HINT TO THE RICH 



Why not give your family for Christmas 

 the promise of a living-room or winter garden 

 with birds and grasses in it, like the one 

 pictured on page 233. 



A CHRISTMAS DON'T 



It is contrary to the spirit of Christmas to 

 cut Christmas trees on other property than 

 your own without permission; to cut sprays 

 from evergreens cultivated by other persons; 

 to use magnolia or mountain laurel for 

 Christmas decorations because all broad- 

 leaved evergreens are of slow growth and in 

 danger of extermination. 



IN THE WINDOW GARDEN 



During the winter months nearly all the 

 ferns are resting; over-watering at this time 

 will seriously injure the plant. 



It is time to be thinking of the flowers 

 which will be in full bloom at Easter. The 

 Easter lily must be brought into heat now 

 and keep growing on steadily. 



The gladiolus is another plant which must 

 be started during December if they are to 

 flower at Easter time or earlier. They must 

 be grown cool — 45 to 50 at night. Grow 

 such varieties as the Bride, Ne Plus Ultra, 

 Shakespeare; these varieties will surely bloom 

 if given ordinary care. 



